I am a renaissance woman – part mathematician, part artist, part musician, part Grizzly Adams, part Weekend Warrior, and mostly crazy!
While attending college to get my BA in mathematics, I spent my summers working in Yellowstone National Park. I hiked all day and served beer and pizza to drunk park employees at night. On weekends I would disappear into the woods, and it was in the backcountry of Yellowstone that I discovered my own spirituality, quite unexpectedly at the age of 19.
After college I joined the Peace Corps where I taught English and math in a small village in Nepal. How many Americans can say they have lived without running water and electricity for a year or more? The family I stayed with in Nepal had almost nothing by our standards, and they struggled every day just to get enough water, food, and firewood. And yet they were happy – happier than most American families, because they lacked the constant reminders about all the stuff they DIDN’T have. They focused on what they DID have, and for them, it was enough.
Back in the U.S., I taught for 2 years at a junior high, and then 3 years at a high school that some have described as “inner city.” I left the year that the State of California, in its infinite wisdom, decided to tie funding with the standardized test scores.
Over the last 7 years, I’ve been working in the credit scoring field, using my statistical skills to build predictive models that lenders use to make decisions (such as whether to accept you as a customer, or whether to lower you interest rate if you are already a customer).
I have also purchased several houses in the last few years, fixed them up, and rented them. The Portland real estate market is still going strong, and my robust business model has allowed me to hang onto 4 houses even through these troubled times.
Credit Scores that matter most - FICO, VantageScore, and the ones you don’t...
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